by Rusty Pugh and Jody Brown
A California high school student has been told she cannot wear shirts that bear a pro-life message because school officials don't like the message.
The student, a senior at Littlerock High School in Littlerock, California, is an ardent pro-life supporter and wanted to express her pro-life message on her shirts. But she was told she could not wear shirts that displayed messages like “I'm Pro-Life,” “Abortion is Wrong,” and “Abortion is Murder.”
Edward White is an attorney with the Thomas More Law Center, which has decided to defend the student's rights in court if necessary. White says students are allowed to wear all types of clothing and shirts with virtually any message — but when it comes to a message objecting to the killing of innocent children, the school suddenly drew the line.
“At this same school, girls walk around in revealing tank tops without any problems from the school, with T-shirts that have the Playboy bunny symbol or Marilyn Manson who we all know … advocates suicide and drug use and very harmful behavior,” White says. “That's all fine — they just don't like her message.”
White says it is a fundamental constitutional principle that students do not lose their right to free speech just because they are in school. “She just wants to be able to express her pro-life views to the same extent as other students express their views,” he says. The attorney says the school has no right to censor the message just because they do not like it.
White's Michigan-based law firm has contacted the school superintendent and school board members, explaining the student's constitutional right to promote her pro-life views at school and requesting written assurances she would be permitted to wear her pro-life clothing.
(This article courtesy of Agape Press.)